1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to servicing vehicle fluid systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for removing and replacing fluids in vehicle fluid systems.
2. Background Art
It is well known that fluid in the various fluid systems in a vehicle becomes contaminated with waste debris through normal use. As waste debris accumulates, it can form harmful deposits on the walls of internal passageways of the fluid systems. These deposits can restrict the fluid flow through the internal passageways of the fluid systems and thus shorten the life of the vehicle components, such as the vehicle engine, transmission, or radiator, which the fluid system is designed to protect. For example, accumulated oil sludge and debris in a vehicle engine lubrication system can form oil and hydrocarbon deposits on the walls of oil passageways of a vehicle engine. These oil and hydrocarbon deposits restrict oil flow through the engine and thus shorten the engine""s life. Therefore, it is desirable to periodically remove contaminated fluid from the vehicle fluid systems, such as the vehicle engine lubrication system, and thereby prevent shortening of the life of the vehicle components.
In a typical vehicle fluid system servicing operation, contaminated fluid is first removed from the vehicle fluid system by unscrewing a drain plug and allowing the contaminated fluid to drain into a waste receptacle. However, valuable service time can be wasted as the service person waits for the contaminated fluid to trickle out of the vehicle fluid system. Also, the above method of removing contaminated fluid from the vehicle fluid system could result in injury to service personnel from hot vehicle and slippery system fluid, or minimally, untidiness from spilled fluid. For example, in servicing a vehicle transmission fluid system, service personnel may be burned by hot transmission fluid or may slip and fall on slippery transmission fluid. Additionally, valuable service time would have to be spent cleaning up any untidiness resulting from the spilled transmission fluid. Also, typically, most transmission pans do not include the installation of drain plugs and the operator must disassemble and remove the drain pan to allow fluid drainage, which is time consuming and would further result in spending valuable service time cleaning up any fluid spill.
Moreover, in a conventional vehicle fluid system servicing operation, contaminated fluid that is removed from the vehicle fluid system is typically disposed of by transferring the contaminated fluid from a small service receptacle into a larger waste fluid container. Since the small service receptacle only holds a small amount of waste fluid, the small service receptacle must be continually emptied into the larger waste fluid container. The above procedure is time consuming and also increases the risk of spilling contaminated fluid.
In a conventional servicing operation, after the contaminated fluid has been allowed to drain out, the vehicle fluid system is filled with fresh fluid by manually pouring the fresh fluid into a fill opening in the vehicle fluid system. By manually pouring the fresh fluid into the fill opening, the rate that the fresh fluid enters the fill opening is difficult to control and the fresh fluid may also be spilled. If the fresh fluid is poured into the fill opening too quickly, the fresh fluid can spill over the fill opening. On the other hand, if the fresh fluid is poured too slowly, the filling operation wastes valuable service time by taking too long to complete.
Thus, there is a need for a vehicle service system that can safely and quickly remove waste fluid in a vehicle fluid system. Additionally, there is a need for a vehicle service system that can quickly and efficiently replace waste fluid with fresh fluid in a vehicle fluid system.
The present invention is directed to apparatus and method for removing and replacing fluids in a fluid system. More specifically, the present invention provides a fluid transfer system for use by an operator for withdrawing a waste fluid from a fluid system and depositing the waste fluid in a waste tank while concurrently providing clean fluid from a clean tank to replace the waste fluid in the fluid system.
In one aspect, a fluid transfer system comprises an output hose capable of being coupled to an input line of the fluid system, and a return hose capable of being coupled to an output line of the fluid system. The fluid transfer system further comprises a low-level fluid sensor capable of being installed by the operator in the clean tank, and a high-level fluid sensor capable of being installed by the operator in the waste tank. The fluid transfer system may further comprise a clean fluid pump capable of pumping the clean fluid from the clean tank to the output hose.
The fluid transfer system may also comprise a clean fluid regulator capable of being adjusted by the operator to control a flow rate of the clean fluid in the output hose. The fluid transfer system may further comprise a waste fluid regulator capable of being adjusted by the operator to control a flow rate of the waste fluid in the return hose. The fluid transfer system may also comprise a clean fluid flow meter coupled to the output hose and a waste fluid flow meter coupled to the return hose.
In another aspect, the fluid transfer system comprises a filter between the clean fluid pump and the clean tank. The fluid transfer system further comprises a check valve between the clean fluid pump and the input line. The fluid transfer system may also comprise a low-level indicator that triggers when the clean fluid reaches a predetermined low level in the clean tank. The fluid transfer system may further comprise a high-level indicator that triggers when the waste fluid reaches a predetermined high level in the waste tank.